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Review
'The trial is a delicious romp but it's also an eye-opening look at the injustice of Victorian divorce, where children were their father's property. It might not have the inspiring qualities of Room, but The Sealed Letter is a page-turner with a jaw-dropping ending.' --Stylist
'A very enjoyable . . . romp.' --Independent on Sunday
'An enjoyable romp with subtle intrigue woven into the plot and demonstrates a deftness for dialogue, bringing to life the well-painted characters.' --Press Association
'Donoghue plunges her readers headlong into her deeply researched world . . . Donoghue never allows the pace to falter, while her fresh imagery and fastidious attention to period detail . . . recall the immersive, mock-Victorian milieu of Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White . . . It's in her characterisation that Donoghue is most successful.' --Big Issue
'Although the headline-grabbing timeliness of Donoghue's most recent, Booker-shortlisted work is absent here, her burgeoning reputation as an author is hopefully enough to earn this earlier work a deserved reappraisal.'
--The List
'Blissfully readable and immaculately researched.' --The Times
'The Sealed Letter is an enjoyable romp with subtle intrigue woven into the plot and demonstrates a deftness for dialogue, brining to life the well-painted characters.' --Press Association
'Set in Victorian England and based on a real-life divorce case that scandalised the country in 1864, it tells the tale of two female friends whose lives are never the same again once one of them embarks on an obsessive affair.' --Bella
'A page-turning drama packed with sex, passion and intrigue.' --Daily Mail
`In forensically revisiting the true story of the Codrington divorce, Donoghue tells a tale which slow-burns with the pace of English reserve but lends sharp insight to each of its players . . . a deserved reappraisal.' --The List
`Donoghue never allows the pace to falter, while her fresh imagery and fastidious attention to period detail . . . recall the immersive, mock-Victorian milieu of Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White' --Big Issue
`The author interlaces hard-hitting historical fact and imaginative fiction into the narrative with a deft and breezy touch: the reader can almost hear the characters' voices long after closing the book.' --Sunday Telegraph
`A page-turning drama packed with sex, passion and intrigue.' --Daily Mail
`A glorious piece of Victoriana: it's elegant and well-constructed, it's finished off with fancy swoops and swirls, but it's also a great work of industry' --Sunday Herald
`They don't make scandals like this anymore.' --Saga
`The author interlaces hard-hitting historical fact and imaginative fiction into the narrative with a deft and breezy touch: the reader can almost hear the characters' voices long after closing the book.' --Irish Independent
`An absorbing read with vivid characters.' --We Love This Book
`Donoghue has crafted a lively, gossipy drama.' --Image magazine
`Donoghue's mastery lies in making a relationship between a vain and treacherous adulteress and a woman of principle believable, while retaining one explicatory secret for the very last scene.' --The Tablet
`In a story that gallops along yet is packed with detail, she has brought colour to the black-and-white reports of the Codringtons' divorce, and written intriguingly about the accompanying issues of feminism and love between women.' --TLS --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
'A very enjoyable . . . romp.' --Independent on Sunday
'An enjoyable romp with subtle intrigue woven into the plot and demonstrates a deftness for dialogue, bringing to life the well-painted characters.' --Press Association
'Donoghue plunges her readers headlong into her deeply researched world . . . Donoghue never allows the pace to falter, while her fresh imagery and fastidious attention to period detail . . . recall the immersive, mock-Victorian milieu of Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White . . . It's in her characterisation that Donoghue is most successful.' --Big Issue
'Although the headline-grabbing timeliness of Donoghue's most recent, Booker-shortlisted work is absent here, her burgeoning reputation as an author is hopefully enough to earn this earlier work a deserved reappraisal.'
--The List
'Blissfully readable and immaculately researched.' --The Times
'The Sealed Letter is an enjoyable romp with subtle intrigue woven into the plot and demonstrates a deftness for dialogue, brining to life the well-painted characters.' --Press Association
'Set in Victorian England and based on a real-life divorce case that scandalised the country in 1864, it tells the tale of two female friends whose lives are never the same again once one of them embarks on an obsessive affair.' --Bella
'A page-turning drama packed with sex, passion and intrigue.' --Daily Mail
`In forensically revisiting the true story of the Codrington divorce, Donoghue tells a tale which slow-burns with the pace of English reserve but lends sharp insight to each of its players . . . a deserved reappraisal.' --The List
`Donoghue never allows the pace to falter, while her fresh imagery and fastidious attention to period detail . . . recall the immersive, mock-Victorian milieu of Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White' --Big Issue
`The author interlaces hard-hitting historical fact and imaginative fiction into the narrative with a deft and breezy touch: the reader can almost hear the characters' voices long after closing the book.' --Sunday Telegraph
`A page-turning drama packed with sex, passion and intrigue.' --Daily Mail
`A glorious piece of Victoriana: it's elegant and well-constructed, it's finished off with fancy swoops and swirls, but it's also a great work of industry' --Sunday Herald
`They don't make scandals like this anymore.' --Saga
`The author interlaces hard-hitting historical fact and imaginative fiction into the narrative with a deft and breezy touch: the reader can almost hear the characters' voices long after closing the book.' --Irish Independent
`An absorbing read with vivid characters.' --We Love This Book
`Donoghue has crafted a lively, gossipy drama.' --Image magazine
`Donoghue's mastery lies in making a relationship between a vain and treacherous adulteress and a woman of principle believable, while retaining one explicatory secret for the very last scene.' --The Tablet
`In a story that gallops along yet is packed with detail, she has brought colour to the black-and-white reports of the Codringtons' divorce, and written intriguingly about the accompanying issues of feminism and love between women.' --TLS --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
From the bestselling author of Room comes a delicious tale of secrets, betrayal and forbidden love
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Sealed Letter is one of those books I just couldn't put down--and then felt bereft when I finally finished it. Set in London in 1864, the novel is loosely based on a scandalous divorce case, and features facts stranger than fiction: a stained dress (sound familiar?), fabricated evidence, and scandal more scandalous than the sensationalist novels of the period. It's a novel in which supposed friends turn against one another, in which servants even turn against those they serve.
Helen Codrington is a wife and mother, born and bred abroad, who craves some excitement in her life. Never thinking of what might happen, she embarks on an affair with Captain David Anderson. Late in the summer of 1864, Helen runs into her old friend Emily "Fido" Faithfull, a crusader for women's rights, who's surprisingly... conventional, all things considered. When Harry Codrington finds out about Helen's affair, however, the lives of these three characters change drastically. The novel's point of view vacillates between Helen, Fido, and Harry.
It's a stunning, well-written book, which explores the way in which lies affect the lives of each of these characters. It's also a fair representation of mid-Victorian mores; although it's tough for us today to understand, divorce was much, much more scandalous and socially crippling in an era that placed a focus on the family and the woman's role in that family. It's strange, too, to a modern reader, the laws that governed divorce in the 19th century (for example, the two primaries were prohibited from testifying). Each of the characters is well-written, and Donoghue gets into the minds of each of the main characters with ease. She never tries to infuse this book with a modern sensibility. It's a compelling book that I couldn't stop thinking about between sittings and after I'd finished.
My only problem with this otherwise superb novel is the fact that the letters are all written in a cursive script that's hard to read. But that's only a technicality.
Helen Codrington is a wife and mother, born and bred abroad, who craves some excitement in her life. Never thinking of what might happen, she embarks on an affair with Captain David Anderson. Late in the summer of 1864, Helen runs into her old friend Emily "Fido" Faithfull, a crusader for women's rights, who's surprisingly... conventional, all things considered. When Harry Codrington finds out about Helen's affair, however, the lives of these three characters change drastically. The novel's point of view vacillates between Helen, Fido, and Harry.
It's a stunning, well-written book, which explores the way in which lies affect the lives of each of these characters. It's also a fair representation of mid-Victorian mores; although it's tough for us today to understand, divorce was much, much more scandalous and socially crippling in an era that placed a focus on the family and the woman's role in that family. It's strange, too, to a modern reader, the laws that governed divorce in the 19th century (for example, the two primaries were prohibited from testifying). Each of the characters is well-written, and Donoghue gets into the minds of each of the main characters with ease. She never tries to infuse this book with a modern sensibility. It's a compelling book that I couldn't stop thinking about between sittings and after I'd finished.
My only problem with this otherwise superb novel is the fact that the letters are all written in a cursive script that's hard to read. But that's only a technicality.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a wonderfully realized account of a Victorian divorce case. The characters are all superbly drawn from meticulous research and the author's brilliant imagination, all set against the backdrop of the early campaign for womens' rights in the UK.
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved 'Room' for the unique way in which Donaghue managed to convey the enclosed world of its victims, and their eventual escape, with such aplomb, but felt it was a novel of two halves, flagging somewhat in its second section. Not so with 'The Sealed Letter', written before 'Room' I believe and published in Canada, a number of years ago. This is, in my opinion, the more accomplished of the two recent releases by the author, and, like 'Room' is based on real-life, actual events, this time drawn from a scandalous court case of the Victorian era. The characters and setting are brought to life with such assuredness, I found myself drawn into the intriguing tale from the outset and could not rest until the novel reached its impeccably-handled conclusion. Most effective of all is the way in which Donaghue elicits sympathy for all three of her central protagonists, using the third person to present each competing perspective on the matters and particulars of the trial itself. Cannot recommend this tome highly enough.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
More of the usual
This is the second of Donoghue's novels I've read recently (the other being Room which I hated) and I have to admit, I only succumbed because the blurb promised me this was based... Read more
Published 21 days ago by Lucy Kitt
Beautifully crafted characters, fascinating insight into late 19th...
I really liked this book, far more than I liked Room (I came to this with trepidation to be honest). Read more
Published 27 days ago by Patricia Reilly
Lesbians, beware
The Sealed Letter is based around a notorious 19th century divorce case. In mid-Victorian London, where this novel is set, the only meaning of "gay" is bright or jolly, and a... Read more
Published 28 days ago by D. Rodriguez
Boring, ( Yawn ), Boring............
Going on the strength of previous rewiews , I was really looking forward to reading this book.Comments like ' a page turning drama packed with sex, passion and intrigue' writes the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tilly Tompkins
not bad
I found this a little slow compare to the Room. Good but very different. Must admit I wouldn't read again, but it is well written just not my cup of taa
Published 1 month ago by Ms. Ann Moyle
Full of anachronisms
This is a disappointing account of a divorce case which was a cause celebre in the mid-19th century. Read more
Published 1 month ago by sog1
A good but difficult read
I did enjoy the book, as with Emmas other books it is very cleverly written and she kept what could have been a very uninteresting storyline alive and enticing. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. D. Dancey
A Good Read
A well researched book which gripped me from the beginning. Emma Donoghue slowly draws out her characters until you begin to believe that you know them and by the end of the book... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kindler
Found it gripping
I'll be honest I found this book hard going to start with, but suddenly became hooked. It was fascinating, gripping and entertaining. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Helen Stothard
Enjoyable, historical tale
This is different from Room but a good story with believable characters. I have always loved historical fiction and this didn't disappoint. Highly recommended.
Published 2 months ago by Jo
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